"Molecular Biology: Genes to Proteins is a guide through the basic molecular processes and genetic phenomena of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Written for the undergraduate and first year graduate students within molecular biology or molecular genetics, the text has been updated with the latest data in the field. It incorporates a biochemical approach as well as a discovery approach that provides historical and experimental information within the context of the narrative."--Publisher.

Includes access to the Student Companion Website with every print copy of the text. Written for the more concise course, Principles of Molecular Biology is modeled after Burton Tropp's successful Molecular Biology: Genes to Proteins and is appropriate for the sophomore level course. The author begins with an introduction to molecular biology, discussing what it is and how it relates to applications in "real life" with examples pulled from medicine and industry. An overview of protein structure and function follows, and from there the text covers the various roles of technology in elucidating the central concepts of molecular biology, from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Tropp then delves into the heart of the book with chapters focused on chromosomes, genetics, replication, DNA damage and repair, recombination, transposition, transcription, and wraps up with translation. Key Features: - Presents molecular biology from a biochemical perspective, utilizing model systems, as they best describe the processes being discussed -Special Topic boxes throughout focus on applications in medicine and technology -Presents "real world" applications of molecular biology that are necessary for students continuing on to medical school or the biotech industry -An end-of-chapter study guide includes questions for review and discussion -Difficult or complicated concepts are called-out in boxes to further explain and simplify

For nearly forty years, using recombinant DNA tools, researchers, and then businesses, have genetically engineered organisms by transferring naturally occurring genes from one organism into another. Doing so modifies the genetic code of living cells, imparting new traits and achieving desired results; this is done in the production of proteins, pharmaceuticals, and seeds. Synthetic biology, argues Solomon, could free scientists from the need to find natural genes to make such desired modifications. Synthetic biology permits more complex and sophisticated bioengineering than what can be achieved through previous genetic modification techniques. Drawing on non-biological scientific and engineering disciplines, including information technology and nanotechnology, synthetic biology strives to rearrange an organism’s genes on a far wider scale by rewriting its genetic code, the chemical instructions need to design, assemble, and operate a species. By allowing the writing of artificial genetic codes, synthetic biology can transform existing industries and spawn new ones, creating new products as well as radically reshaping existing items. Arguing for self-regulation by the scientific and business communities, Lewis D. Solomon recommends a policy framework that would guard against governmental overregulation, which could create a barrier to innovation. Although synthetic biotechnology holds considerable social and economic potential, absent a nurturing regulatory climate, it may prove difficult to translate research discoveries into commercially viable applications.

This text takes the liberal humanist position against the advance of scientific ethics (or lack of them), in particular those of genetics. As the achievements of science threaten to engulf this century leaving us morally and philosophically floundering in their wake (what are we going to do about Dolly?), Appleyard engages with the issues in a debate which can only get hotter and more desperate.

Sir Isaac Newton once declared that his momentous discoveries were only made thanks to having 'stood on the shoulders of giants'. The same might also be said of the scientists James Watson and Francis Crick. Their discovery of the structure of DNA was, without doubt, one of the biggest scientific landmarks in history and, thanks largely to the success of Watson's best-selling memoir 'The Double Helix', there might seem to be little new to say about this story. But much remains to be said about the particular 'giants' on whose shoulders Watson and Crick stood. Of these, the crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, whose famous X-ray diffraction photograph known as 'Photo 51' provided Watson and Crick with a vital clue, is now well recognised. Far less well known is the physicist William T. Astbury who, working at Leeds in the 1930s on the structure of wool for the local textile industry, pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography to study biological fibres. In so doing, he not only made the very first studies of the structure of DNA culminating in a photo almost identical to Franklin's 'Photo 51', but also founded the new science of 'molecular biology'. Yet whilst Watson and Crick won the Nobel Prize, Astbury has largely been forgotten. The Man in the Monkeynut Coat tells the story of this neglected pioneer, showing not only how it was thanks to him that Watson and Crick were not left empty-handed, but also how his ideas transformed biology leaving a legacy which is still felt today.

"This series discusses how the major fields of science developed during specific time periods. Each volume focuses on a range of years and includes developments in exploration, life sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, and technology. When the series is completed, the seven volumes will cover 2000 B.C. to the present."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001.

"A masterful attempt to describe the historical secondary literature of the British Isles -- from prehistory to the present day -- the set is comprised of substantial essays of 1,000 to 3,000 words each on a wide array of subjects -- all written by pre-eminent scholars in language accessible to beginning students and advanced researchers. Each listed essay title is given a thorough annotation."--"The Top 20 Reference Titles of the Year," American Libraries, May 2004.